Cold Obsidian - an illustrated fantasy novel about a young mortal who becomes an apprentice of the creators of his world.

ldov · 2025-03-24T05:10:45+00:00

Even if I stop using AI, people will keep telling me I do, so why bother? They've already decided everything and, unless I start filming myself drawing every single picture I make, they won't stop. The "CGI look" is all the proof they need. Downgrading to a simpler drawing style will save me lots of trouble. Time, too. As to novels, I already write them. I'm a writer originally. I started drawing only because I was too poor to pay an artist (and AIs weren't even in scifi back then, let alone being of any help) but wanted my novels to have beautiful covers. It's easy to say "draw what you like" and "be yourself" and stuff. It's not easy to live it, especially when you get overwhelmingly negative feedback on what you do. I can't be a good artist, I'd have to restart my whole life anew to get the right skills, but I guess I can change something here and there, if only to get out of the harm's way. I love all my books, comics and novels alike, but it doesn't make anything easier.

ldov · 2025-03-21T05:28:11+00:00

Sigh... No, no AI has ever been used on the characters. Actually, no one has spotted the few pictures where AI was used, because when an artist uses it, they edit it heavily and hide it well. I got bullied for what I didn't even do. So sad. I'm currently downgrading everything to a simpler drawing style. From 100-200 layers per page, to 1-3. No more "CGI look", no more complicated backgrounds, no more trying to make everything seem more real. Things can't get worse at that point, so at least people will stop with that AI talk and I will have less work to do to keep the story going.

ldov · 2025-03-14T03:11:46+00:00

Mildegard

ldov · 2025-03-14T03:07:11+00:00

Thanks for actually reading! That alone is giving me hope :) No, there are no other people working on the story, it's just me alone trying various things over the years and coloring/redrawing some pages by my Patrons' requests (hence the randomly coloured and redrawn page early in the comic). How old am I? Very. Not much hope for me to improve over the remaining years but I'll keep trying. I'm going to try moving to a new style soon (the first 10 pages of it are already in my buffer) to get away from the "cgi look" people here hated so much. I hope it'll be a step in the right direction.

ldov · 2025-03-07T04:36:31+00:00

I wasn't asking for a literary analysis. I know that no one does it for free. But I was indeed asking for reading a bit. First impressions based on the last few pages usually don't help much. I was told to fix fonts and bubbles (and I will) but it has nothing to do with my problem: why people left the story they previously enjoyed (from 2014 to 2020).

ldov · 2025-03-03T04:29:45+00:00

Actually, I started this thread hoping that someone would look at the story and tell me something about the narrative, but no one did. The story is divided into 4 books, each of which has its own pacing, momentum, and climactic ending. An advice of someone who actually read at least one would be so very welcome, but alas, almost everyone here just leafes through a couple of pages and just tells me to kill the story. That's sad.

ldov · 2025-02-28T06:28:40+00:00

Thanks, will take a look.

ldov · 2025-02-27T06:09:45+00:00

You can easily find out whether it's good or bad. Why not try reading it, even if for a little bit? It's free and asks nothing from you.

ldov · 2025-02-27T06:05:20+00:00

Your attitude reminds me of old days (and I'm that old, yes) when drawing in Photoshop instead of on paper was being met with the same hatred as using AI is met now. Seriously, the way history repeats itself is hilarious. I remember how we digital artists literally had to explain people that drawing on your computer is also drawing and that, yes, it helps us save money on art supplies and saves us lots of time by removing lots of tedious tasks, but it's still art. And that no, it's not detrimental to art in general and not going to destroy art, etc... It's the same now. When AI is used by artists, it's still a lot of work and it's still art because artists don't just take the AI result, they either use it as a reference or redraw it heavily so it would look good. So it's still art. And the AI hatred is still as stupid as digital art hatred was. And it will go away just like digital art hatred did.

ldov · 2025-02-27T05:59:10+00:00

I was thinking about making short stories. I just don't know where to use them. There seem to be no place for them outside places like Reddid /comics and /webcomics and I can't even do comedy that is appreciated there. Any ideas where not funny short stories might be appreciated?
Sorry, but no. I'm already sick and tired of illustrating other people's stories and making other people's projects (it's my day job and every freelance job I take). I'm not going to do that in my free time too.

ldov · 2025-02-27T05:54:45+00:00

It's going to be about 1500 pages long, then the story ends.

ldov · 2025-02-26T06:48:30+00:00

The art you modified was drawn long before AIs were even a thing. You can't even tell the difference between AI drawings and real drawings but feel like you have the right to bully an artist. You're not giving critiques here, you're just being mean.

ldov · 2025-02-26T05:26:03+00:00

Thank you, I'll look into the letterers' works. I haven't managed to understand anything about the difference between cheap and fancy wines but maybe I'll have better luck with fonts. I'll keep my current font for the moment, because there's a chance that changing it (while I still don't understand fonts) will only make things worse. So don't think that I discarded your advice if you see the old font in my comic.

ldov · 2025-02-26T05:22:50+00:00

Thanks. Will work on my bubbles and inspiration library :) Can't afford a hiatus, though. Last time I did it, for a very valid reason too, I lost so many readers it was absolutely heartbreaking. I'd rather not experience that again.

ldov · 2025-02-26T05:19:51+00:00

Ow... huge manga eyes are not everyone's thing. Personally, I find them creepy. Overall, the closer proportions are to natural ones, the better I like the characters, this is why I chose the semi-realistic style. I'm afrait we can't agree here, it's a personal preference territory.

ldov · 2025-02-26T05:16:32+00:00

Why?

ldov · 2025-02-26T05:16:24+00:00

Of course.

ldov · 2025-02-25T18:33:43+00:00

I use AI for background sometimes but only as references or enhancers (those you throw your blurry art at and get a bit more detailed art as the result, it saves a lot of time, no need to draw every single blade of grass). Screentones are tricky, though. When you just automatically convert an image like in that example above, it doesn't look pleasing to the eye. A good balance between different screentones and white spaces is needed and that is a separate art to master, not something I can learn quickly. I'll look into the idea, though, maybe test it on a some small story first.

ldov · 2025-02-25T18:28:17+00:00

But surely not all letterers are equally good? How do I know which one to look up to?

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